Family returns $50bn deposited to bank by mistake

It was nice while it lasted.

Accidental billionaires gave up their entire fortune after discovering $50bn sitting in the family’s bank account.

Darren James, from Louisiana, says his wife opened up her account to discover $50bn deposited by Chase Bank.

But instead of buying a new pair of shoes or, say, a private jet, the family called the bank to report the extra zeroes burning a hole on their balance statement.

"I’m like, ‘Where did that come from?’" Mr James told Fox News. "And all we were thinking was who’s going to be knocking on our door... because we don’t know anybody with that type of money to begin with."

The father of two hoped there was some hitherto unknown rich uncle that died and bequeathed the stacks of cash, but they knew immediately it must have been a banking error.

"We knew it wasn’t ours. We didn’t earn it, so we couldn’t do anything with it," he told the outlet.

And as a former law enforcement officer with the Louisiana Department of Public Safety, he also knew keeping the money would be considered theft.

But for a moment, they were among the richest people on the planet.

“I was a billionaire for four days ... It was a cool feeling, even though you couldn’t do anything with it,” he told Fox. "It was a great feeling while it was there to see that many zeroes in your account ... It was pretty neat to see what it looked like."

While the cash was deposited into their account on 12 June, it wasn’t removed until 15 June, Mr James said.

A spokesperson for Chase Bank said in a statement to Fox that they corrected the error.

"We had a technical glitch over a week ago impacting a limited number of accounts," the statement said. "The issue has been resolved and those accounts are now showing accurate balances."